Walmart evolves Canadian leadership too

With its chief marketing officer, Michael Francis leaving to take on the role of president of JCPenney, Target is temporarily without an executive to head up its expansion into Canada, which should come as good news to Walmart Canada, which recently announced some leadership changes of its own.

Former Asda executive and Walmart Canada CEO David Cheesewright has a new role that opens up some intriguing growth possibilities, given his new responsibilities include oversight of geographic areas where Walmart doesn’t currently operate stores.

Cheesewright was named EVP, president and CEO of a new regional management team within Walmart’s international division, where he will lead Walmart’s retail operations in Canada, the United Kingdom and Sub-Saharan Africa, while also overseeing business development in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Canada. In this new role, Cheesewright reports directly to Walmart International president and CEO Doug McMillon.

“Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Canada hold tremendous potential for our company and we are excited to have David Cheesewright leading the team,” McMillon said. “Since joining the company, David has been a champion for our customer, led innovation and delivered returns.”

That has especially been the case in the U.K. and Canada, which are regularly at or near the top of the company’s best performing countries when it comes time to report financial results. However, what’s interesting about McMillon’s comment is how he just slipped in the reference to the Middle East and Europe, suggesting expansion into markets within continental Europe and the Middle East are on the company’s radar.